BioPharma

3 emerging innovations for blood vessel repair

New technology created by Cellular Dynamics International has licensed its development to Indiana University, which creates new human blood vessels for those with peripheral arterial disease.

blood vesselMedCity News has partnered with BioCrossroads to provide coverage focused on Indiana’s next generation of growth and innovation in life sciences.

Different new technologies continue to emerge with the hope of improving blood vessel repair and replacement for those with various diseases, either with the help of stem cells, 3D printing or the use of other human cells to develop actual new tissue. One disease in particular is peripheral arterial disease.

New technology created by Cellular Dynamics International has licensed its development to Indiana University, which creates new human blood vessels for patients with peripheral arterial disease (a narrowing of arteries that leads to restricted blood flow, usually in a person’s legs). Potential clients have already been chosen to utilize the technology. This kind of method could help to prevent the need for amputation.

The method was developed by Dr. Mervin Yoder, a researcher at Indiana University. According to United Press International, the method involves using “induced pluripotent stem cells from patients and turning them into cells with the characteristics of endothelial colony-forming cells found in umbilical cord blood — which form blood vessels and restore blood flow to to damaged tissue.”

Other innovation has previously been present in this particular area.

Back in 2013, a Duke University spinoff, Humacyte, made advancements in tissue engineering as it transplanted the first bioengineered blood vessel into the arm of a patient with end-stage kidney disease. It’s a product that’s derived from human cells but doesn’t have any of the biological properties that cause organ rejection. The vessels are created by cultivating donated human cells on a tubular scaffold.

Then there is 3D printing. As it was reported at the end of last year, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are using a 3D printer and a “bio-ink” made of materials compatible with the human body to print structures with living cells and biomaterials. The material and environment are engineered to enable small blood vessels, human capillaries, to develop on their own.

Photo: Flickr user Wapster

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